The issue of homelessness in tasmania

Homelessness is a serious issue and it is increasingly becoming a huge problem in Tasmania. Homelessness in Hobart alone has risen by 21 percent in the last 5 years. The controversy over the homeless is becoming a serious issue and the lives of many in Tasmania are being impacted. Many lives are continuously being disturbed by the constant problem of homelessness that is spreading across Tasmania. The Hobart City Council hosted a meeting to discuss rental needs and demands. The Hobart City Council are impacted because their job is to make sure the residents are safe and happy but they are unable to provide houses to every homeless person. Political parties are also being impacted by this issue although they also have equally important issues they must deal with too. Ms. Chugg demanded that “ all political parties need to give housing a higher priority.” While this is true and political parties to need to show concern about homelessness they can’t dedicate all their time to this one issue because there are plenty of other issues in our society. The homeless people’s point of view on this issue would be they want a place to live or rent as they are unable to find homes available for rent that they can afford. The investors want to maintain the houses they are using as Airbnb’s because they are making a profit. Without the profit, the investors are making from these houses they would be among the homeless because they would be unable to support themselves. The unemployed and are also involved in this issue as they are at a high risk of not having a home. Action needs to be taken to prevent this percent from rising any further.

The White Paper sets have a target to have homeless completely eliminated by 2020 and offer any support to those who need it. From their point of view, they want to eliminate the homeless but they are unable to prevent homelessness but eliminate the current homeless people. Homelessness is also caused by a lack of houses, whilst this is not yet a major issue it is becoming more and more significant.

Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister, wanted to have his voice heard so he wrote a foreword to the Australian government to agree the issue of homelessness in Tasmania. His point of view was that nobody in Australia should be homeless. He said, “ In a country as prosperous as Australia, no one should be homeless.” “ Airbnb’s impact on Tasmania reveals the number of homes being offered… has skyrocketed more than 290 percent since mid-2016.”- Alexandra Humphries, February 21, 2019. More investors buying more properties and using them to make money by using them as Airbnb’s causes rent prices to rise as there are less available rental properties offered. This results in more and more homeless people as people are unable to afford houses or rentals. The problem is not caused by members of our society renting out their houses on the Airbnb site to make some extra money instead it has been caused by the investors.

The issue of homelessness affects Tasmania in an economic, environmental and social way. There has recently been a $132 million implement over a four-year period specifically to be used for housing in Tasmania. This is an economic impact to Tasmania as a community, a large amount of money is needed for homeless people but there are also other high-risk problems in Tasmania which need funding as well. Becoming homeless also has many social impacts on individuals and the people around them. Homeless people are often more likely to have mental health issues this causes effects on them as well as Tasmania. The extreme weather conditions in Tasmania also causes some serious issues for people. More and more Tasmanian’s are becoming homeless every day and this is having huge impacts on Tasmania. The issue of homelessness needs to change before it becomes impossible to change.